HELSINKI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Finnish tyre maker Nokian Renkaat and builder YIT made up for falling Russian sales by growing in markets such as Central Europe and North America, results on Friday showed.

Nokian, which has a large plant near St Petersburg, and YIT, known as Russia's biggest foreign house-builder, were hit last year by the fall in the rouble and weakened consumer demand.

Last year, Nokian generated about 17 percent and YIT 16 percent of sales in Russia, both down from 26 percent in 2014.

Nokian's sales in Russia fell 34 percent last year, but were up about 5 percent in Europe and 25 percent in North America.

Its operating profit in the fourth quarter jumped 22 percent from a year ago to about 95 million euros, topping average analyst forecasts of 81 million euros.

For this year, however, Nokian expects flat sales and profits as Russia's weak economy and high inventory levels in North America curb growth.

"Russia is becoming a permanently smaller market for them. They expect the Russian tyre market to come down 10-15 percent this year after falling some 20 percent in 2015," said Nordea analyst Rauli Juva.